Building Conversions Make Exciting Property Investment Opportunities
Off-plan real estate developments usually involve a new build apartment block or rows of contemporary-style houses, but what if you could invest in homes planned for a listed building or classic structure, perhaps even a football ground?
When Arsenal Football club first announced it was to up sticks from the ageing Highbury Stadium and moved to a new home at nearby Ashburton Grove, questions were raised about what would happen to the 38,000-seater arena where the team had played home games since 1913. That same arena is now undergoing transformation into 711 apartment properties in a project called Highbury Square - one of the most innovative and ambitious property conversions London has ever seen.
Less than 10 per cent of the real estate development is still available to purchase off-plan as of April 2008, with prices starting at £345,000. Properties will include terraces and balconies, a 24-hour concierge service, plus a fitness centre and swimming pool.
Stands intact at Highbury Square
Remarkably, the original shells of the four massive stands have been preserved and are successfully being converted, with the stadium’s pitch becoming a stunning two-acre shared landscape garden for lucky residents to enjoy.
The East Stand was once, ironically, partially at the root of the club’s expansion problems as it is a listed building, but is now one of the most attractive sides of the development, which is expected to be fully complete this summer and sure to tempt more than gunners fans.
Buying something as unique as this could be seen as a way of not only getting your hands on an exciting property investment but also as a method of preserving the past and helping to support the character of the local area. And, of course, converting a large building into homes is sometimes far less costly than constructing it from the ground up. Imagine the cost of putting up four massive apartment buildings at Highbury from scratch.
Property conversions are common in London, thanks to the capital’s long-standing and increasingly chronic lack of space. Naturally, Highbury Stadium is not the only old building undergoing a residential revolution. Although already complete, the former Trebor Mints factory conversion in Katherine Road will give you an idea of what is becoming increasingly fashionable among developers and property investors alike.
A spectacular 1930s monolith, it is now 65 residential properties and office units with the addition of two extra new floors and a daylight-filled courtyard in the middle of the building. And the ‘Trebor Quality Sweets’ lettering on the exterior has even been restored to its former glory.
Live in a former gin business
Forced in part by space limitations, London continues to set the standard with similar property conversions. How about a new home in a former gin distillery? Although no alcohol appears to be included with any new property purchases at the simply named ‘Distillery’ project close to Canary Wharf.
Former home to Old Seager gin, this exciting property investment opportunity integrates part of the site’s listed architecture and remodelled warehouse to produce a mixed-use development. Its website quotes Ken Livingstone, current Mayor of London, as calling it ‘an exemplar of process and design in London.’
The building’s apartments will feature oak finishes, open studios and duplexes, plus a ’sky gallery’ in the building’s upper floor to create panoramic views. £225,000 is the starting price if you are interested in investing in one of these properties, with completion earmarked for 2010.
Monolithic Mills converted to apartments
Outside of London a northern mill or factory conversion seems a regular and apparently attractive bet. Leeds and Manchester, once at the hub of the industrial revolution, both boast their own financial districts, with Leeds’ banking haven the biggest area of its kind outside of the capital.
As such the textile mills that once housed the world’s first organised heavy industry are a potential goldmine for property developers keen to convert them into apartments for young professionals settling either side of the Pennines.
Elisabeth Mill, Houldsworth Village, Stockport, is being turned into 138 apartments by specialists Millshomes. The site is a grade II listed former cotton mill and currently in the second stage of a two-phase conversion. If Victoria Mill, phase one, is anything to go by, Elisabeth Mill will feature exposed brickwork, penthouses, high ceilings and uninterrupted views. £139,359 is a discounted starting price for these property investments, with all units done and dusted by August 2009.
Over in Leeds, the vast Bank Mills building, once empty, grim and redundant, is now the subject of a transformation into Roberts Wharf, by City Lofts. Additional new build properties are also being added here, to create 198 new Conran-designed loft apartments plus 13,000 sq ft of office space. Some of these properties are already completed and a few units are left off-plan, with £90,000 and up the asking price and full completion down for October this year.
Other property conversion innovations
The same property developer is behind Springfield Mill, Nottingham, in the east Midlands. Once the home of lace production, it is now a four-storey apartment development with 105 units. Work is underway already with June 2008 the finish date. Again, an element of Jasper Conran design is as standard.
Manor houses and hunting lodges prove popular candidates for more rural conversions. The Mulberry Green Collection, Essex, will feature seven apartments in a listed manor house, once gutted by fire but now set to be a luxurious set of homes starting at £299,950.Work on this project is set to get under way this year.
As the NHS continues a programme of selling off older sites, hospital conversions might also make future property investment opportunities. School conversions are also common. Victorian school buildings lend themselves well to homes with high ceilings and airy windows. Parts of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the east Midlands are in the midst of an educational cash investment from the Government. The borough of Melton in the former and Bassetlaw in the latter are undergoing schemes that could see large school buildings up for grabs in the not-too-distant future.
Although rare gems, conversion properties off-plan could become more common as developers seek to minimise costs in the current economic climate - and what better way to preserve the past while laying down a future property investment?
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